Displaying items by tag: Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan: Russia’s Eurocement has signed an agreement with Uzqurilishmateriallari to build a 2.4Mt/yr cement plant. It is scheduled for completion by 2020. The new plant will be Eurocement’s second plant in the country and it will increase its total cement production capacity to over 4Mt/yr. Eurocement already owns a 84% stake in Uzbekistan’s second largest cement producer Akhangaracement after purchasing a 76% stake in it from Switzerland’s Zeromax in 2006.

Uzbekistan: Ahangarancement JSC has increased its cement production by 5.2% year-on-year to 1.86Mt in 2016 from 1.78Mt in 2015. Clinker production grew by 4.9% to 1.34Mt from 1.28Mt, according to the Trend News Agency. In total, the Eurocement-owned cement producer’s sales of cement rose by 4.8% to 1.86Mt. Cement and clinker production rose by 4.1% and 3.4% respectively in 2015.

Tajikistan: Tajikistan began to export cement to Uzbekistan in 2016, according to the Ministry of Industry of Tajikistan. 162,000t of cement were sent to the neighbouring country in the first nine months of the year. Cement has also been sold to Afghanistan. Previously Tajikistan exported cement only to Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan with the majority going to the former. Cement production in Tajikistan has increased by 37% year-on-year to 1.51Mt in the first nine months of 2016.

Uzbekistan: Ahangarancement has increased its cement production by 6% year-on-year to 1.42Mt in the first nine months of 2016. Clinker production grew by 3.8% to 1.02Mt and cement sales volumes grew by 6.1% to 1.42Mt, according to the Trend News Agency. Ahangarancement, based at Ahagaran in Tashkent, is the second largest cement producer in the country. It is owned outright by Russia’s Eurocement.

Uzbekistan/Jamaica: Schade Lagertechnik has announced details of orders its has received from the cement industry from Kyzylkumzement in Uzbekistan and from Caribbean Cement in Jamaica.

In July 2016 Scaahde won a contract to supply two bridge type reclaimers and a stacker to Kyzylkumzement in Uzbekistan. The two reclaimers, each with a capacity of 1000t/hr and a rail span of 30m, and the 1200t/hr stacker will be delivered in the autumn of 2017 so that the plant can be commissioned in early 2018. The project is being supported with the aid of World Bank financing.

The order is part of the modernisation and improvement of cement plants that was called for two years ago by the Uzbek construction materials collective, Uzstroymateriali. This investment programme comprises nine projects for modernisation and reconstruction of plant at three of the largest cement works in the country, Kyzylkumzement in Nawoi, Akhangaranzement in the Tashkent region and Bekabadzement also in the Tashkent region. The investment volume at Kyzylkumzement alone is in the order of US$40m. Currently there are six cement plants in Uzbekistan with a total installed capacity of around 8Mt/yr.

Schade will also supply a full-portal reclaimer for limestone, with a capacity of 700t/hour and a rail span of 42m, to Caribbean Cement in Jamaica in the autumn of 2017. The project phase leading up to this order had been going on for almost 20 years. Rather than investing in a new machine, the initial plan was to convert an existing one. In the end the management decided that the purchase of a new machine would be more economical than incorporating all the required modifications into the existing machine.

Schade Lagertechnik produces equipment for bulk material stockyards and blending bed technology. It is part of the Aumund Group.

Uzbekistan: The Titan Cement plant in the Karauzyak region of Karakalpakstan has been completed and has started operation. The plant has a production capacity of 0.2Mt/yr and 200 new jobs will be created. The commissioning was announced at a socio-economic development meeting for the Republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan.

A few news stories in recent weeks have emerged concerning falling cement sales in Central Asian countries. Steppe Cement reported in mid-April 2016 that its cement sales had fallen by 12% year-on-year to US$5.98m in the first quarter of 2016 from US$6.79m in the same period in 2015. The cement producer noted an overall drop of 16% in the cement market in Kazakhstan, with a slowing reduction in March 2016 compared to the preceding four months. It forecast that the domestic cement market would contract by 1.1Mt in 2016 to 8.5Mt. The country has a cement production capacity of 11.85Mt/yr according to Global Cement Directory 2016 data. So on average this would see a drop in the capacity utilisation rate to 72% from 81%.

Likewise, Italcementi reported a fall in cement consumption in the fourth quarter of 2015 although overall in 2015 it reported consumption up by 9%. It is currently upgrading its Shymkent cement plant to a dry kiln with testing planned for early 2016. Meanwhile, HeidelbergCement – the other multinational present in the country, reported cement sales growth of over 9% due in part to the ramp-up of its new CaspiCement cement plant. How this will turn out after HeidelbergCement takes control of Italcementi remains to be seen.

Then, Holcim Azerbaijan reported that its sales had fallen by 37% to US$56m in 2015. It blamed the resultant loss it made on not being able to cut its production costs fast enough to match the falling revenue. The parent company LafargeHolcim blamed it on a ‘significant’ decline in public and private construction. Elsewhere, the World Bank reported a 13% drop in the construction sector in the second half of 2015 as the government cut investment.

Tajikistan may have broken this pattern as it reported that its cement production volumes rose by 33% to 373,000t in the first quarter of 2016. Over half of this output came from the 1Mt/yr Huaksin Ghayyur Cement plant that was commissioned in March 2016. The same news source reported government estimates that local demand will be 3.5Mt/yr in 2016. Similarly, Turkmenistan reported growing cement production in 2015 due to the opening of the 1.4Mt/yr Polimeks cement plant in Lebap. Otherwise there has been little reported recently from the cement industries in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan although the World Bank has reported that their economies are in reasonable shape.

The multinational cement producers all noted the economic problems caused by low oil prices in the Central Asian countries in which they operate. In February 2016 this was reinforced by the International Monetary Fund after its latest visit to Azerbaijan. The World Bank also expects little growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the region in 2016. Low oil prices have followed economic problems in Russia that have also impacted upon the region due to its economic ties with that country and membership of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

This is bad news for the local markets but it is especially bad news for the Chinese cement industry. As China has faced production overcapacity and falling prices at home, its suppliers and producers have sped off down the Silk Road to seek expansion prospects elsewhere. With this route blocked, the Chinese industry faces one fewer opportunity to avoid the crunch at home.

For more information of the cement industries in Central Asia read Global Cement's feature on the region from January 2016

Uzbeksitan: Uzbekistan has put on sale state shares in Kyzylkumcement. According to the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Privatization, Demonopolization and Development of Competition, the government wants to sell a 35.9% state shares or 160,658,567 shares in Kyzylkumcement for a total of over US$160m. Sales of the state-owned cement producer will be handled by the block-trading section of Uzbekistan Stock Exchange.

Kyzylkumcement was launched in 1977. It is the largest cement plant in Uzbekistan with a production capacity of 3.1Mt/yr.

Uzbekistan: Qizilqumsement and Bekabad Cement intend to conduct energy saving projects at their plants by the end of 2020, according to local press.

Bekabad Cement, in partnership with the World Bank, is upgrading its aeration system and the products transportation system at its cement silos. The upgrade will save more than 3MkW/hr of electric power per year. The plant is also installing a new cement ball mill with a capacity of 135 – 150t/hr. This is planned to reduce power consumption by 20%.

Qizilqumsement plans to reduce its gas consumption by 46.6Mm³, and power consumption by 57MkW/hr. A clinker silo will be built, the clinker plant will be upgraded and the closed circuit cement milling will be launched for mill #7.

Uzbekistan: Uzbekistan's Ahangarancement JSC increased its cement production by 4.1% to 1.77Mt in 2015. Its clinker production grew by 3.4% to 1.28Mt. In 2015 the company sold 1.77Mt of cement, a 3% year-on-year increase.